Portable combination mining and separating assembly



1970 E. o. HAZLITT ET AL 3,493,266

PORTABLE COMBINATION MINING AND SEPARATING ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 4. 1968TR Wm M N m 0 0 w w m I 0 0 T A NR W g M k qh m w \Nm R Nb A F lllmh mwh m a g \EM' United States Batent O 3,493,266 PORTABLE COMBINATIONMINING AND SEPARATING ASSEMBLY Elwin D. Hazlitt, 818 Orland Ave. W.,Montesanto, Wash.

98563, and Robert T. OConnor, 2137 Willamina Ave.,

Forest Grove, Oreg. 97116 Filed Jan. 4, 1968, Ser. No. 695,751 Int. Cl.E021 7/00; A01d 13/00 US. Cl. 299-7 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA pulling vehicle such as a tractor is connected to a carry-all vehicleof the type adapted to scoop earth thereinto. Connected behind thecarry-all is a third vehicle which carries separating apparatus such asvibrating screen assemblies. A conveyor is supported on the carryall fortransferring raw ore material from the carry-all to the separatingapparatus in the third vehicle. A conveyor assembly is mounted in thethird vehicle and is associated with the separating apparatus for movingthe ore material thereinto as well as to carry out separated valuableore material and tailings. The carry-all has a power operated breakerwheel in association with its conveyor for initially breaking up raw orematerial and for assistance in loading the said material on theconveyor. Also, the pulling vehicle has ripper teeth thereon forbreaking up raw ore material before it is scooped up by the carry-all.

This invention relates to valuable improvements in mining apparatus.

As is well known, great areas of low ore deposit land are available formining, but since most of such land is remotely located and, as stated,is of low ore deposit, it has not been economically feasible to mine andship the ore to distant refineries. For example, ore which has depositsof minerals worth about 25 or 30 cents per yard or less is notworthwhile to mine and ship any great distance to a refinery. On theother hand, if the ore material has valuables worth substantially moreper yard than that mentioned, it may be worthwhile to carry the orematerial a considerable distance for refining. Accordingly, a primaryobjective of the present invention is to provide a portable combinationmining and separating assembly which employs in one train assembly apulling vehicle, an ore collecting vehicle which scoops up the raw orematerial from the surface, and a separating vehicle which carriesseparating apparatus arranged to receive raw ore material from thecollecting vehicle and arranged to separate out some of the impuritiesso that there will be a greater quantity of the valuables in the orematerial to make the ore worthwhile to ship for refining.

A more particular object of the present invention is to provide aportable combination mining and separating assembly including acollecting vehicle which scoops raw ore material thereinto as it ispulled along the surface and which has a conveyor thereon fortransferring the raw ore material to a separating vehicle employingmeans for removing some of the impurities or tailings.

Another object is to provide a portable combination mining andseparating assembly including a separating vehicle which supportsmechanism arranged to remove a good share of the impurities or tailingsand which has means for discharging the impurities out one side of thevehicle and means for discharging valuables out of the rearward end ofthe vehicle, whereby the valuables may be deposited in a followingvehicle and the impurities discharged out of the path of movement of theassembly.

Another object is to provide a portable combination mining andseparating assembly wherein a pulling vehicle therefor has ripper teethfor initially breaking the surface of raw ore material and wherein acollecting vehicle which is towed behind the pulling vehicle includes abreaker wheel for further breaking the ore material.

The invention will be better understood and additional objects andadvantages will become apparent from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferredform of the device.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the portable combination miningand separating assembly of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of said assembly; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view of separatingapparatus carried in the separating vehicle.

Referring now in particular to the drawings, the present portablecombination mining and separating assembly is formed of three vehiclescomprising a pulling vehicle 10, a raw ore material collecting vehicle12 and a trailing separating vehicle 14. Pulling vehicle 10 may comprisesuitable power apparatus such as a tractor. Such tractor preferably hasa bulldozer blade 16 at its forward end and ripper teeth 18 at itsrearward end. By means of the teeth 18, the surface of the ground areato be picked up can be initially loosened. Blade 16 can also be used forloosening surface material.

The ore collecting vehicle 12 is connected to the rearward end of thetractor, as by a hitch 20, and preferably comprises a conventionalcarry-all having forward and rearward wheels 22. The carry-all vehiclehas a box-like portion 24 and a steerable drawbar 26 connected to thehitch 20. The box 24 of the carry-all has pivot support on horizontalstub shafts 27 on the rearward ends of the drawbar 26 and has poweredpivotal movement by fluid operated cylinders 28 for raising and loweringthe forward end of the box with relation to the earth surface. Thebottom forward end of the box has an opening 30, FIG- URE 2, and scraperteeth 32 are located on the rear defining edge of the opening forscooping material into the box upon forward movement of the carry-allwith the box adjusted in a lowered position.

Forming a part of the present invention is a conveyor 34 supported onthe carry-all 12 and having its lower end disposed at a point adjacentthe bottom wall of the carryall whereby material loaded into thecarry-all by forward movement thereof is automatically pushed onto suchconveyor. Conveyor 34 extends rearward at an upward angle and operatesin the direction of arrow 36. It is dimensioned and arranged to transferthe material from the carry-all to the separating vehicle 14. Conveyor34 has suitable mounting support in the carry-all. Such mounting supportcomprises front securing lugs 40 and rear securing brackets 42.Preferably, bafide plates 43 lead inwardly from the opening 30 on eachside of the conveyor 34 to direct the ore material onto said convevor.

Mounted within the box 24 in horizontal relation and disposed adjacentthe upper surface of the conveyor 34 is a power-driven, laterallydisposed breaker wheel 44. This Wheel comprises a shaft having radialfingers or spikes and is driven in the direction of arrow 46, FIGURE 1.Such wheel breaks up material moving along the conveyor and also assistsin loading material onto the conveyor. It is mounted on a suitablelaterally disposed bracket 48 secured to the box 24.

Separating vehicle 14 includes a box-like trailer 50 supported on wheels52. The front wheels of this vehicle are steerable. Separating apparatusis supported within the trailer 50 and includes a pair of vibratingscreen units 54 and 56 which for the purpose of the present inventionmay comprise that type of unit known in the trade as a Grizzlyseparator, manufactured and sold by Rex Chainbelt, Inc. Such vibratingscreen units comprise a box-like structure having open top and bottomends and having a laterally horizontal, rearwardly tilted vibratingscreen 58 disposed between the upper and lower ends thereof. Vibratingscreen unit 54 is secured to the box 50 and to legs 59 supported in thebox. Vibrating screen unit 56 is offset laterally from the unit 54 andis disposed in a lower plane with relation to the latter unit. Unit 56is supported in a plane above the bottom of the box 50 by securementthereof to one wall of said box and to support legs 61?. Details of thevibrating screens are not shown herein since such structures are ofcommon usage.

Mounted on the separating vehicle 14 is a first conveyor 61 which isarranged to receive material from the conveyor 34. In order to receivematerial from such conveyor, the conveyor 34 extends rearwardly anamount sufficient to overlap conveyor 61 a short distance. Also,conveyor 34 is disposed above the conveyor 60 an amount sufficient toallow longitudinal tilting of said conveyor 34 with the carry-all box24. Conveyor 61 is supported at its forward end on upright posts 62 andat its rearward end on the vibrating screen unit 54.

The vibrating screen units 54 and 56 may have suitable dimensions, butin the present arrangement it is desired that rearward discharge ends ofboth units are substantially laterally aligned in order to overlie andboth deposit tailings on a common transversely extending conveyor 66.This latter conveyor has suitable support at its lower end by ears 68,FIGURE 3, secured to a side wall of the box 50. The conveyor 66 also issupported intermediate its ends by suitable brackets 70 secured to theside wall of box 50. Conveyor 66 operates in the direction of arrow 72,FIGURES 2 and 3, and is arranged to discharge tailings off to one sideof the separating vehicle 14.

A conveyor 72 which is located under the vibrating unit 54 receives thematerial which passes through the screen 58 of the vibrator 54 anddeposits it onto a transversely disposed conveyor 74 which in turndeposits ore material onto the vibrating screen unit 56. For the abovepurpose, conveyor 72 operates in the direction of arrow 76, FIG- URES 1and 2, and conveyor 74 operates in the direction of arrow 78, FIGURES 2-and 3. Conveyor 72 is supported on brackets 80. FIGURE 1, as well as onlegs 59 and the box 50 FIGURE 3, and conveyor 74 is supported onbrackets 82 and 84, FIGURE 3, secured to the box 50. A longitudinallydisposed conveyor 86 is disposed beneath the vibrating screen unit 56for catching valuable ore material which passes through the latter unit,and this conveyor has an upwardly angled rearward portion 88 whichterminates at the rearward end of the trailer 50. Conveyor 86 operatesin the direction of arrows 90. This conveyor has support on legs 60 andon the box 50, and its upwardly angled portion 88 has support at itsouter end on legs 92.

The conveyors on the carry-all and on the separating vehicle may besuitably driven such as by fluid operated motors 94 connected to asuitable pump, not shown, on the pulling vehicle. Connection of themotors 94 to the pump is accomplished by flexible conduits 96.Similarly, the vibrating screen units may be driven by fluid operatedmotors 94.

The fines, or in other words the valuable ore material to be retained,comprises the material which passes through both vibrating screen unitsand is deposited on the conveyor 86. The first screen is of coarse meshand discharges only the larger particles onto the conveyor 66 astailings. The second screen, however, is of much finer mesh and isintended to sift onto conveyor 86 the final valuable ore material to beretained.

With regard to the operation of the present assembly, the three vehiclesare hooked together in the order shown in the drawings. The carry-allbox 24 is lowered selectively by the power units 28 so as to scoop upthe raw ore material as the pulling vehicle 10 pulls the assemblyforward. As the raw ore material is scooped into the carry-all 12, it isautomatically pushed back onto the conveyor 34. Breaker wheel 44,rotating counterclockwise as viewed in FIGURE 1, assists in the loadingof the material onto the conveyor 34 and in addition also breaks up anylarge pieces of material. The raw material may first be partially brokenby the ripper teeth 18 on the pulling vehicle. Bulldozer blade 16 mayalso be used to loosen and to break up material to be scooped up by thecarry-all.

Conveyor 34 deposits the raw ore material onto conveyor 61 of theseparating vehicle which in turn deposits such material onto thevibrating screen 58 of the first vibrating screen unit 54. Thisvibrating screen unit shakes the material in an initial step such thatthe raw ore material is broken up somewhat, with the smaller valuableore material sifting therethrough and the larger tailings moving off therear of such screen and discharged laterally from the vehicle by theconveyor 66.

The ore material which sifts through screen 58 of the vibrating screenunit 54 falls on the conveyor 72. Conveyor 72 deposits the said materialonto the conveyor 74 which in turn deposits the material onto the screen58 of the vibrating screen unit 56. Unit 56 further subjects thevaluable ore material to a vibrating and sifting function. As statedabove, the screen 58 of the vibrating screen unit 56 is of finer meshthan the first screen and it will accomplish the final step of siftingout only the par ticle size desired while discharging the tailings. Theore material which sifts through the second screen has a worthwhilepercentage of valuable ore, at least such a percentage which makes itworthwhile to ship from remote areas to a refinery. The mesh sizes ofthe screens 58 in the two units 54 and 56 may vary, depending upon thetype of raw ore material being mined. Likewise, the relationship of themesh sizes in the two screens may vary, depending upon the type of rawore material being mixed, the moisture content thereof, and otherfactors. By empirical determination and also by well known miningstandards, vibrating screen units can be used which, as stated before,separate out enough of the tailings to make the valuable material whichis deposited upon conveyor 86 worthwhile to ship to the refinery.

Since conveyor 86 discharges the material out the rear of the separatingvehicle, the valuable ore material can be deposited in a followingvehicle or the like, not shown. Also, since the tailings are dischargedout the side of the separating vehicle, they are out of the path ofmovement of the vehicle. With reference to FIGURE 2, it is preferredthat the scooping blade of the carry-all be wider than the wheelbase ofall three vehicles in order that the assembly can make more than onepass along the same line.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A portable combination mining and separating apparatus comprising (a)a vehicle,

(b) vibrating screen means on said vehicle for separating out valuableore material and tailings,

(c) a first conveyor arranged to receive a discharge of tailings movingoff the end of said vibrating screen means,

(d) said first conveyor being disposed laterally of said vehicle andarranged to discharge the tailings over one side of the vehicle,

(e) a second conveyor arranged to receive a discharge of valuable orematerial moving through said vibrating screen means,

(f) said second conveyor being disposed longitudinally of said vehicleand arranged to discharge the valuable ore material rearward from thevehicle,

(g) loading means connected with said vehicle for feeding raw orematerial into said separating means,

(h) and power drive means connected with said vehicle for moving italong the ground. 2. The portable combination mining and separatingapparatus of claim 1 wherein (a) said vibrating screen means includestwo screens, 5

(b) conveyor means transferring the valuable ore material from a firstof said screens to a second of said screens,

(0) said second screen being of finer mesh than said first screen anddischarging the output of valuable ore 10 material therefrom onto saidsecond conveyor. 3. The portable combination mining and separatingapparatus of claim 2 wherein said first conveyor is arranged to receivea discharge of tailings moving off the end of both vibrating screens.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,462,096 7/1923 Wiertz 171-120 X2,479,719 8/ 1949 Boylan 171138 X 2,520,320 8/1950 Lyons et a1 2997 X2,560,140 7/1951 Thayer 2997 X ERNEST R. PURSER, Primary Examiner US.Cl. X.R. 171-89, 138

